The patents of Charles W. Neefe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,523 of July 17, 1984 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,327 of Sept. 18, 1984, describe methods of making a cosmetic contact lens of novel structure. The lens has an inner circular zone formed of a transparent, colored polymer. Around the circular zone is a concentric annular zone of transparent polymer of the same color as the inner zone in which are dispersed light-reflecting, opaque particles. A second annular zone of clear transparent polymer is formed around the first annulus.
When this novel lens is placed on the eye of a user, the inner circular zone corresponds to the pupil and the first annular zone corresponds to the iris. Although a conventionally tinted contact lens has limited effect on changing the apparent color of the iris, and essentially no effect in lightening the color of dark eyes, in the lens disclosed by Neefe, when light impinges on the reflecting particles dispersed in the colored annular zone, it reflects back as colored light. Consequently, a wearer can have almost any iris color he chooses by wearing such lenses.
Although the novel lenses disclosed in the Neefe patents are pleasing cosmetically, they do have one drawback. This results from the fact that the light-reflecting solid particles in the annular zone are opaque. While the inner zone or pupilar area of the lens contains no opaque particles, the lens wearer is conscious of the opaqueness of the particles in the annular zone of the lens. The quantity of light reaching the wearer's retina through these lenses is reduced by the opaque particles in the annular zone or iris area of the lenses. If the concentration of opaque particles is heavy, as may be desirable in providing, for example, a light blue tint over a dark colored iris, the wearer will experience what can be called a veiling effect. When excessive, this gives the wearer the impression that he is viewing the world through a veil.